annieb123
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
In Too Steep is the second Misty Bay Tea Room cozy by Kate Kingsbury. Released 9th Aug 2022 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out in 3rd quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a nice follow-up to the series starter and will please fans of small-town shopfront cozy mysteries. Protagonist Vivian is an intelligent and active widow and the owner of the Misty Bay Tea Room. When a local beachcomber dies under suspicious circumstances, she's soon involved in another mystery and up to her neck in danger, jewel theft, and murder.
The author is prolific and experienced. The plotting is quite linear, but the characters are well rendered and the dialogue flows well. The language is clean (PG) and there's no on page graphic violence. The climax, denouement, and resolution are all self contained in this volume, and it works well as a standalone.
Four stars. Fans of Cleo Coyle, Paige Shelton, and Sue Minix will find a lot to like with this book. It's a light cozy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.